The stroke of doom
by Lothiriel84
Summary: For he was now dancing on the edge of a dark precipice, without any confidence that he would come through at all. He couldn't turn to her yet. Not while he still had to meet his doom. - The title refers to a quote from "The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien.
1. Chapter 1

Jane was lying on the couch inside Lisbon's office – stealing sidelong glances at the enigmatic woman that was his boss.

Her body language could get quite contradictory sometimes. Especially as far as _he_ was concerned.

He wondered if she was aware of this. Probably not. Denial was one of her best friends, after all.

One thing was sure though. Their relationship could only be described as _weird_, to put it mildly.

In their own precarious way, they were friends. She was the single person he trusted completely. On her part, Lisbon mostly chose to give him the benefit of doubt – whether he actually deserved it or not.

However, he knew that their friendship was indeed balancing on the edge of a knife. Were one of them to stray just a little, and it would crumble to pieces.

Or, to be more precise, there were two possible scenarios.

The most unpleasant one was her finally giving him up – and that was for sure the most likely too. What with him still determined to exact his revenge on Red John, and the crazy stunts he had to pull in order to achieve this goal. He wouldn't blame her if she decided to cut her losses.

She should have done it many years before, as a matter of fact.

Then there was the other scenario – both pleasant and frightening at the same time. The one which he wasn't quite ready to acknowledge yet.

Part of him was still desperately in love with his dead wife and child. Add that to his burden of guilt and self-loathing, and his obsession with Red John – well, he'd better not think about this second scenario right now.

For he was now dancing on the edge of a dark precipice, without any confidence that he would come through at all.

He couldn't turn to her yet. Not while he still had to meet his doom.


	2. Chapter 2

No one can possibly know what fate may have in store. Sometimes the strangest twists happen just out of the blue.

That's why one night Jane woke up to find Lisbon standing beside his bed in his motel room. The odd look on her face unmistakably told him that something big was going on.

Hours later he found himself staring at the body still lying on the armchair in Rosalind Harker's living room. A most unpredictable way for a decade-long chase to end.

He vaguely registered Lisbon questioning the blind woman. Rosalind appeared to be as calm and composed as ever.

"Why did you do that?"

An enigmatic smile was still hovering on her lips. "Roy came to me this evening. There was something different about him, I could tell. He _smelled_ different".

Suddenly she was lost in her thoughts, and Lisbon had to prod her gently.

"What did he smell like?"

"Blood".

A silence fell. Jane could see Lisbon gathering her strength before going on.

"What happened then?"

"He gave me a weak explanation about it. Said he had cut himself while chopping wood. I didn't believe him".

A sigh escaped from her lips. "Then I remembered what Mr. Jane had told me about Red John, and I realized that Roy had been lying to me the whole time".

"So you killed him?"

Rosalind tilted her head to one side. "I loved him, and he betrayed my trust. I just had to".

"How?"

"I was making his tea. I just slipped a few sleeping tablets into his cup – he didn't even notice what I was doing. He simply fell asleep while I was playing the piano".

"I need some air", Jane suddenly murmured in Lisbon's ear. He quickly left the room and sat out on the porch.

He felt dizzy and light-headed. Red John was dead. The real one this time.

A few minutes later a gentle arm wrapped around his shoulders.

"Jane".

"I'm okay, Lisbon. Really".

"No, you're not".

He paused. "I'm not sure I'm coming back with you".

"I understand. Take your own time, Jane. Just remember that I'm always here for you".

"Thanks", he whispered, allowing himself to lean into her touch for another moment.


	3. Chapter 3

It took him a month to come to terms with Red John's death. Not that he regretted it, of course.

He just felt he had failed his family once again. He should have made Red John pay for what he had done. An overdose of sleeping pills seemed far too merciful an end for the serial killer who had destroyed so many lives.

Well, nothing could be done about it anyway. His quest for revenge was over for good.

Jane actually didn't know what to do with his life now.

Red John's passing obviously hadn't brought his wife and daughter back. He was utterly alone, finally devoid of any aim or purpose.

Now there was just one place where he'd rather be.

He knocked softly at the door, wondering if he should have waited till the morning. It was quite late after all.

Lisbon came a couple of minutes later – she was barefoot, and had just her jersey on.

Neither of them spoke as she stepped aside and let him in.

He took a deep breath. "Well, I'm back".

She stared at him for a moment before throwing her arms around him and hugging him tightly.

As he relaxed against her, Jane felt he owed her the truth. "You know that I would have killed him if I'd gotten the chance, don't you?"

Lisbon didn't loosen her grip. "I know".

On a sudden impulse she stood on tiptoe and tentatively brushed her lips against his. That caught him off guard, and he didn't respond at once.

Awkwardly she pulled away, and was about to apologize when he drew her closer and slowly kissed her back.

It looked like there was indeed some light for him beyond the darkness he'd been living in for so long.


End file.
